Shoe form



lJan. 3, 1939. wb 1l DE WrrT 2,142,240

SHOE FORM Filed Sept. l, 1957 Patented Jan. 3, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFlCE SHOE FORM tion of New York Application September 1, 1937, SerialNo. 161,931

4 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in shoe forms and moreparticularly in a shoe form of the type which comprises an expansibletoe member and a back part member. A shoe form of this type isillustrated in my Patent No. 2,067,- 381, dated January 12, 1937 and thepresent invention is a further development of such form.

In the operation of such a shoe form the toe member is removed from theshoe by a retractive force exerted upon it by the back part member. Sucha force acts through the spring means which connects the sections of theback part member to compress them and hence is not positively applied.

The primary object of thisl invention is to provide in a shoe form ofthis type means whereby the retractive force exerted by the back partmember is positively applied as by the provision of means through whichthe force acts directly upon the toe member.

A further object of this invention resides in the construction of theback part member whereby the spring is enclosed within a tubularrearward section which also receives one end of the forward section,

These and other objects will appear from a consideration of thefollowing description and of the accompanying drawing which forms a partthereof and in which Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a shoe inwhich a shoe form embodying this invention is inserted, portions of theshoe and of the toe member being broken away;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan View of the shoe form;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the back part member, thetubular rearward section being shown in longitudinal section;

Figs. 4 and 5 are fragmentary views illustrating the relative positionsof portions of the sections taken when the rearward section is advanced(Fig. 4)'and retracted (Fig. 5); and

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line --i in Fig. 5.

In Fig. 1 of the drawing is shown a shoe I 0 having a toe and heelcounter I2 in which a shoe form 29 is inserted. Such shoe form comprisesa toe member 2| and a back part member 30.

The toe member 2| comprises a toe portion 22, having ball flanges 23,and a pair of crossbraces 24. Each crossbrace is pivoted at its forwardend to a ball flange 23 and carries at its rearward end a rivet 25 whichenters aV slot 26 in the other flange. The toe portion 22 is ofCelluloid, buckram or other resilient formable material and the sidesthereof are expanded or contracted by swinging the crossbraces fromtheir forward pivoted ends.

The back part member 30 comprises av rearward tubular section 3| and aforward rod section 32, the section 3| receiving the rear portion of thesection 32. Surrounding the rear portion of the section 32 is anextensible coil spring 33 secured at one end to the rear end of thesection 32 and at the other end to a spool 34 carried by the section 32.The spool 34 comprises a head 35, a flange 36 adjacent the head and aflange 31 spaced fro-m the flange 36 by a collar 38. Formed in theflange 31 and collar 38 is a curved groove 39 which receives a loop 46formed at the end of the spring 33.

In assembling the back part member the section 32 with the spring 33 isinserted in the section 3| through the open forward end thereof. Theflanges 33 and 31 of the spool 34 are of such dimension that they fitsnugly in the section 3| and the head 35 closes the open end thereof.The spool 34 is secured in the section in any suitable way as forexample by forming a. groove in the outer periphery of the flange 35 andpunching a portion of the section therein. 'Ihus the forward end of thesection 3| is substantially closed but since the section 32 is freelymovable through the spool the sections 3| and 32 are relatively movabletelescopically. The spring 33 yieldably resists that relative movementin one direction. Formed on the rear portion of sectionv 32 and withinsection 3| are ears 4| which are adapted to engage the spool and limitsuch relative movement in the otherl direction. The rear end of thetubular section is preferably closed and bent to form a loop 42.

When placing the shoe form in a shoe as shown in Fig. 1 the toe member2| is inserted in the toe of the shoe and the section 3| pressed forwardover the section 32 to contract the length of the back part member sothat it can be inserted in the shoe with the loop 42 against the heelcounter |2. The spring 33 acts through the sections of the back partmember to hold the loop 42 yieldably against the heel counter and tohold the toe member in the toe of the shoe and expand the walls thereofagainst the walls of the toe. In removing the shoe form the section 3|is again pressed forward so that the back part member can be raised. Thetoe member is then contracted and removed from the shoe by drawing thesection 3| back and exerting a retractive force through the back partmember. As the section 3| is drawn rearwardly over the section 32 it rstacts thereon through the spring 33 and then acts directly thereonthrough the contact of the spool 34 and ears 4l. Thus the toe member ispositively contracted and withdrawn without unduly compressing thespring 33.

While one embodiment of this invention has been shown and described, itwill be understood that the invention is not limited thereto and thatother embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A shoe form comprising a toe member and a back part member, said toemember being insertable in the toe of the shoe and said back part memberserving to hold the toe member in position,l said back part membercomprising a rearward tubular section and a forward rod section, theforward end of the rod section being `attached to the toe member and therearward end thereof being received within the former section and thesections being relatively movable telescopically, a spring surroundingthe end of the rod section within the tubular section and a spoolsurrounding the rod section and attached to the tubular section, therearward end of the spring being attached to the rearward end of the rodsection and the forward end of the spring being attached to the spoolwhereby the spring yieldably resists relative movement of" the sectionsin one direction.

2. A shoe form comprising a toe member and a back part member, said toemember being insertable in the toe of the shoe and said back part memberserving to hold the toe member in position, said back part membercomprising a rearward tubular section and a forward rod section, theforward end of the rod section being attached to the toe member and therearward end thereof being received within the former section, and thesections being relatively movable telescopically, a spring surroundingthe end of the rod section within the tubular section, and a spoolsurrounding the rod section and attached to the tubular section, therearward end of the spring `being attached to the rearward end of therod section and the forward end of the spring being attached to thespool whereby the spring yieldably resists relative movement of thesections in one direction and means for limiting relative movement ofthe sections in the other direction.

3. A shoe form comprising a toe member and a back part member, said toemember being insertable in the toe of the shoe and said back part memberserving to hold the toe member in position, said back part membercomprising a rearward tubular section and a forward rod section, theforward end of the rod section being attached -to the toe member and therearward end thereof being received within the former section, and thesections being relatively movable telescopically, a spring surroundingthe end of the rod section within the tubular section, and a spoolsurrounding the rod section and attached to the tubular section, therearward end of the spring being attached to the rearward end of the rodsection and the yforward end of the spring being attached to the spoolwhereby the spring yieldably resists relative movement of the sectionsin one direction and means on the rod section adapted to engage saidspool and limit the relative movement of the sections in the otherdirection.

4. A shoe form comprising a toe member and a back part member', said tcemember being insertable in the toe of the shoe and said back part memberserving to hold the toe member in position, said back part membercomprising a rearward tubular section and a forward rod section, theforward end of the rod section being attached to the toe member and therearward end thereof being received within the former section, and thesections being relatively movable telescopically, a spring surroundingthe end of the rod section within the tubular section and a spoolsurrounding the rod section and attached to the tubular section, therearward end of the spring being attached to the rearward end of the rodsection and the forward end of the spring being attached to the spoolwhereby the spring yieldably resists relative movement of the sectionsin one direction and ears on said rod section within said tubularsection and adjacent said spool, adapted to engage said spool and limitthe relative movement of the'sections in the other direction.

WILLIAM J. DE WI'I'I.

